BERKELEY, Calif. (KRON) - The Berkeley City Council passed a resolution calling on the United States government, including President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), to stand more explicitly with Iranian women in their fight against repressive laws.
“Our sisters in Iran need us to stand with them," Councilwoman Kate Harrison stated in a news release Oct. 19. "Their bravery is remarkable."
The resolution was authored by Councilman Ben Bartlett and was co-sponsored by Harrison, Councilwoman Sophie Hahn and Mayor Jesse Arreguin.
"Although the US Treasury has sanctioned Iran’s morality police and security officials, and President Joe Biden has stated his support for the protests, the Iranian government continues to commit human rights violations. Congress has more options at its disposal, including a global internet freedom bill that would restore internet access to Iranians," the press release stated.
Berkeley "has a track record of initiating change from the bottom up, and there’s no reason to stop now," the release states. Berkeley famously divested from South Africa when it was an apartheid state.
Protests in Iran began in September, after a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the government's "morality police," who arrested her for allegedly wearing a hijab too loosely.
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"Medical experts reviewed CT scans and determined that Amini had suffered numerous head traumas while in custody, contradicting the Iranian government’s claim that Amini collapsed from heart failure," the press release stated.
Some 240 people, including 32 minors, have been killed in the ensuing protests. The Iranian regime has shut down Internet and WhatsApp access.
“The women of Iran are showing unparalleled heroism in the face of state-sponsored murder and violence," the press release continued. My heart aches for the girls and women of Iran who suffer every day under a deeply misogynistic regime and face brutal punishment for resistance.”
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